รอสส์ เคาน์ตี้ 0-1 อเบอร์ดีน: ดุ๊กทำแต้มเพิ่มทีมพิตโตดรี้นำหน้าฮาร์ทส์

Resurgent Aberdeen notched up their sixth win in a row to move five points clear of Hearts in third place as struggling Ross County were beaten in the Scottish Premiership.

But the Pittodrie club had to survive a late bombardment after captain Graeme Shinnie’s injury-time red card.

County remain in 11th place.

The hosts, who started brightly, rarely tested Kelle Roos in the Aberdeen goal, and could finish the weekend bottom of the table if Dundee United defeat Motherwell on Saturday.

With a sold-out away allocation of 2,500, the travelling Aberdeen fans didn’t have long to wait to erupt into euphoria, and unsurprisingly, it was their in-form man, Duk, who delivered.

Latching on to a delightfully-weighted threaded pass from Leighton Clarkson, the Cape Verde international rolled his 16th league goal by a wavering Ross Laidlaw in the County goal.

The response from the hosts was concise, but lacked a clinical edge. Comfortable in possession, winning countless free-kicks and seven corners in the first-half alone – the same tally amassed in the win last weekend against St Johnstone.

Duk is just one half of a deadly duo for Aberdeen, and it appeared he provided his partner Bojan Miovski with a timely assist as the North Macedonia international stroked the ball past Laidlaw just after the break. But, County were spared by the offside flag in a tight call.

Laidlaw then had the woodwork to thank as Ryan Duncan cracked the underside of the bar with his neat effort taking a nick on its way through.

But on his 200th appearance for the club, Shinnie was dismissed for the second time in three games after referee Euan Anderson was called to the monitor to review the midfielder’s sliding tackle on Jack Baldwin.

It invited late pressure on Aberdeen’s goal, but the visitors’ defence remained robust.

Player of the match – Luis Lopes

Dons defence impresses again while County slack in attack – analysis

It’s now no surprise to see Aberdeen performing so well under Barry Robson. A frightening sea-change in energy, precision and confidence.

Duk will once again dominate the headlines, have his name sung in the stands, and rightly so, but as the old saying goes, the best form of attack is defence.

Angus MacDonald and Mattie Pollock have been immense since coming into Pittodrie. They have brought the best back out of Liam Scales, by his own admission, to create a solid foundation at the back.

That’s the fourth clean sheet in a row for Aberdeen, the first time that has been accomplished in the league since January 2015.

Ross County offered plenty in the middle of the park, enjoying large spells on the ball, but lacked any sort of clinical edge in the final third. Kelle Roos had very little to do in the Aberdeen goal.

The Aberdeen defence lapped up the continual long balls from County in the direction of Simon Murray, on a night where they again remained defiant until the final whistle.

What did they say?

Ross County manager Malky Mackay: “On another day, something would have broken for us. I was really happy with the way we started, the whole first half really I was happy but we make a poor error in the middle of the park which gifts them the first goal.

“If we keep playing like that for the next six games, we’ll be OK.”

Aberdeen interim manager Barry Robson: “We knew what was coming but it’s difficult to stop. From the first minute, the ball is put over the top and they win a corner. It’s an onslaught. It’s hard to deal with, so we worked on being defensively strong.

“I’ll be boring and say we take each game as it comes. I know things are around the corner in this game, so I’ll not get carried away.”

What’s next?

In the final round of fixtures before the split, Ross County travel down to Tynecastle to take on Hearts at 12:30 (BST) on Saturday, 22 April, while Aberdeen host Rangers the day after at 16:30.